China Mobile, the country's largest telecom carrier, is set to release its first batch of 5G mobile phones in the first half of the year, said Jian Qin, vice-president of the company at a convention yesterday, wallstreetcn.com reported.

The prices of 5G mobile phones are set to fall to around 1,000 to 2,000 yuan ($145-290) in 2020, added the vice-president at the ongoing seventh China Internet Audio & Video Convention held in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

According to Jian, China Mobile users can enjoy 5G networks by using current SIM cards and phone numbers without re-registration. 5G users will be billed by flow, rate, bandwidth, time delay and functions, he added.

"4G changed our lives, and 5G will change the society," Jian said, adding that 5G is not simply 4G plus 1G, but will provide infrastructure support to deep integration of various industries.

China Mobile established its 5G joint innovation center in 2016 and built 22 open laboratories and five industry alliances to boost innovation capability of the industry. The company launched China's first 5G Multimedia Innovation Alliance (5MII) in 2017, covering whole industrial chain links of digital media such as content production, transfer, distribution, and consumption.

The innovation of personal applications in the 5G era remains another priority of the company, as China Mobile is establishing its 5G ultra high-definition live stream, video, and game services to improve user experiences.

Wang Xiaochu, chairman of China Unicom, another main telecom operator of the country, announced the company will launch 5G trial networks in 40 Chinese cities at a conference in Shanghai on April 23.

China Unicom also invited 60 leading enterprises in setting up the China Unicom 5G Application Innovation Alliance.

Rival China Telecom, according to its 5G technical white paper released last year, will start 5G innovation trials in 17 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, according to media reports.